Drone, K9 help find boy missing in northern Minnesota woods
Wooded area. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
(FOX 9) - Police used a drone and a K9 to find a 12-year-old boy who was missing in the woods in Hibbing for several hours early Thursday.
The Hibbing Police Department says the boy ran into the woods from his friend's house in the area of the 3700 block of Berg Road at about 3:50 a.m. Police were concerned for his safety due to it being cold — the National Weather Service said it was about 23 degrees, and the boy was wearing a light jacket and pants — and it being a remote area.
Hibbing police, including K9 Chase, as well as the Hibbing Fire Department, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, and Virginia Police Department's K9 Teddy, searched the immediate area but did not find the missing boy.
The St. Louis County Rescue Squad and St. Louis County Emergency Management eventually responded to the area and assisted in the search. And at about 9:10 a.m., authorities, including K9 Chase and the St. Louis County drone team, found the boy in a wooded area off of Hughes Road.
"With the quick response and teamwork of all the agencies involved, [the boy's] life was saved today," Hibbing Police Chief Steve Estey said in a statement. "I can't thank these agencies enough for their hard work and dedication to public safety."
The boy suffered minor injuries to his extremities and hypothermia. He was taken to Fairview Range for evaluation, police said.